While supervising a schools football trip to Jersey, David Downs had grown fretful. He could not find out the result of Reading’s vital league match against Wolverhampton Wanderers and, desperate, he chanced upon a sign in the hotel lobby. “If in despair, ring the Samaritans,” it read.

Downs rang, but the woman on the end of the line, stifling a laugh, could not help him. “But you won’t do anything silly, will you?” she asked.

That was 1986, this is 2007. Downs, 62, a former headmaster, a lifelong Reading fan and the club historian, is children’s safety officer at the Madejski Stadium. Times have changed - a mobile phone would surely have resolved his Channel Island angst – but he is still looking after youngsters, the potential stars of tomorrow.

At the Reading academy – and those of the other Premier League clubs – the protection of children’s welfare, health and safety is paramount, from under-nines through to under-18s. Nothing is left to chance, especially the most stringent of checks with the Criminal Records Bureau.

“Here, we’re fortunate in employing a lot of people who can see the bigger picture,” Downs said. “We think of our academy players as children first and footballers second. We like to see the whole child rather than just ‘is he going to make a professional footballer?’ and treat them accordingly.

Academy players want for nothing. “The FA has come in for a lot of criticism in recent years, most topically about the England team’s performances,” Downs said. “But the best thing it has done was to set up its child protection department.

“Some players could be put under pressure from overambitious coaches, but we can now protect them from that. We also respond quickly to any concerns about the effect the football is having on their academic progress. There is an ongoing dialogue with their schools and their families.”

Yet if the academies are thriving, there is an adverse trickle-down effect to the schools. Many have been denuded of their best talent – some academies, though not Reading, do not allow their players to play for them and there is also a shortage of teachers willing or able to take extra-curricular training.

After more than 40 years working in schools football, Downs can see the pros and cons. “Academies have improved the standard of youth football,” he said. “The better players are receiving a much higher quality of coaching. The downside is that the better players are taken out of the schools set-up to concentrate on their academy work. That has led to a dilution of the standards in the schools.

“A lot of schools teams are now run by retired teachers. The younger teachers, the more talented coaches, will work in the academies and those left do not have the time because of their academic demands. A lot of the retired teachers still hold the traditional values that were maybe OK 20 years ago, but the game has moved on.”

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